Campaign promotes healthy eating

People in Springfield and Sleepy Eye hoping to lose 10 pounds, maintain their weight or simply make healthier food choices will soon be seeing information to help them at convenience and grocery stores around town.

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The Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch

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Posted Jun. 9, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Posted Jun. 9, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Sleepy Eye, Minn.

People in Springfield and Sleepy Eye hoping to lose 10 pounds, maintain their weight or simply make healthier food choices will soon be seeing information to help them at convenience and grocery stores around town. The Heart of Brown County Project, a grant-funded expansion of Hearts Beat Back: The Heart of New Ulm Project, is launching a new health campaign, called SWAP IT to DROP IT™ in early June.

The community-wide campaign is an expansion of a similar campaign recently conducted in New Ulm. The campaign is designed to inspire people to make small changes (SWAPs) every day that can help them lose or maintain weight and improve their health. Each quarter, the campaign will highlight new SWAP IT tips.

“The idea is that making SWAPs to save just 100 calories each day can help you lose 10 pounds in a year,” explained registered dietitian Rebecca Fliszar. “For example, choose water instead of a soda, skip the sugar and creamer in your coffee or downsize your daily soda from 20 ounces to 12 ounces. It’s that easy, and every SWAP makes a difference.”

Signs and information about how to make healthy SWAPs (substitutions) will be featured in grocery stores and convenience stores. In addition, registered dietitians will be conducting regular tours at grocery stores to help people learn how to shop with heart health in mind, answer questions, and see how they can make food and beverage SWAPs to save calories.

Sleepy Eye convenience stores participating in the campaign include Caseys, 500 Main St. East; Cenex, 509 Main St. West; and Freedom, 400 Main St. West.

Participating convenience stores in Springfield include Expressway, 11 East Rock St., and Fuel Max, 221 West Rock St.

Participating grocery stores are Schutz Family Foods at 900 Main St. West in Sleepy Eye and Tauer's Grocery and Gas at 101 West Central in Springfield.

Upcoming grocery store tours:

Schutz Family Foods: June 12 at 3 p.m., June 25 at 4 p.m., July 8 at 10 a.m. and July 18 at 6 p.m.

Tauer’s Grocery and Gas: June 6 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., June 13 at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., June 18 at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. and June 25 at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

All tours are free and last approximately one hour. No registration is required; people should meet the dietitian at the front of the store. Recipes and tips will be provided.

The Heart of Brown County Project is a grant-funded initiative coordinated by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Allina Health and Brown County Public Health. For more information on the campaign, visit www.heartsbeatback.org and choose “SWAP IT to DROP IT” under the “Brown County” menu tab.